Don’t overpay for a Dyson cordless vacuum

Published3 November, 2017

You could end up paying out more than double the best price for a cordless Dyson vacuum if you buy at the wrong time, or from the wrong place. So if you’ve got your eye on a Dyson ahead of Christmas it pays to do your research before buying. Over the past few months we’ve been keeping tabs on the price of Dyson cordless vacuums, and we’ve seen some prices rise an unprecedented amount in recent weeks.

You might think opting for one of the older V6 models would bag you a good price, if you’re willing to sacrifice some of the newer features on the V8, such as longer battery life. But we found an entry-level Dyson V6 vacuum could cost you more than the top-of-the-range Dyson V8 Absolute. The Dyson V6 Animal, for example, can often be found on sale for ?219, but since the beginning of October its price has shot up to ?369.

We reveal how to get the best price for a cordless Dyson below, including making sense of the different models available. To see how they stack up in our independent tests jump straight to our cordless Dyson reviews[1].

How to get the best price on a cordless Dyson vacuum

Knowledge is power, and it’s easy to overpay if you get bamboozled by the range of models available, especially when prices change daily across different retailers. In the table below you can see the lowest price, highest price and most common price for different Dyson vacuums over the past six months, according to data from Pricerunner.

Some models are on sale for a price that exceeds their original launch price. The highest price we’ve seen was ?682 for the Dyson V8 Absolute, which originally launched in 2016 for ?499. As well as prices changing over time, they can vary more than you might think between retailers too.

The Dyson V8 Absolute is currently on sale in Littlewoods for ?580. You can get the same product for ?388 at Go Electrical, saving you more than ?190. If you are keen to buy a cordless Dyson, use the table above as a guide to make sure you aren’t paying over the odds.

Which? members can also use the ‘compare prices’ tab on our cordless Dyson reviews[2]. This tells you the price at all major retailers, as well as whether it’s a good time to buy or not, based on analysis of historical price data.

Choosing the best Dyson stick vacuum

One of the main differences between the V6, V7 and V8 models is the battery life. Generally, as you go up the ranges, you get more cleaning time.

You can see how long each lasts, according to our battery life tests, in the table below.

Dyson range

Run time on standard setting

Run time on highest setting

V6

20 minutes

6 minutes

V7

28 minutes

7 minutes

V8

33 minutes

8 minutes

On the V7 and V8 ranges, you’ll also get Dyson’s bin-emptying feature, which helps to push dirt and debris out of the dust container. This could be handy if you hate having to scrape around the bin to get fluff and debris out.

Animal, Absolute or Total Clean? Making sense of the different models

In each of the three Dyson ranges, there will typically be three or four variations to pick from.

The difference in price between these models can be hundreds of pounds. The core machine is usually the same – what you’re paying for is additional floor heads and attachments. For example in the V6 range you’ll find the Dyson V6, Dyson V6 Animal, Dyson V6 Absolute and the Dyson V6 Total Clean, sometimes known as the ‘Fluffy’.

The basic V6 has a combination floor head with a spinning brush bar. It’s suitable for use on carpets and hard floors. You will also get a crevice tool and a 2-in-1 upholstery tool and dusting brush.

The V6 Animal costs more, but comes with an extra mini motorised tool for sucking up pet hair from smaller areas like stairs and furniture.

The V6 Absolute has a different combination floor tool, and also includes a dedicated hard-floor tool, and an extra motor filter. The V6 Total Clean is similar to the V6 Absolute, but has a special ‘Fluffy’ hard floor tool instead. This looks a bit like a paint roller and is claimed to be gentle on sensitive hard floors, as well as better at picking up larger crumbs.

These differences are roughly mirrored within each of Dyson’s three ranges.

So do you need those extra tools? Not always. We’ve found some are more useful than others.

Dyson vs other cordless vacuums

Cordless vacuum cleaners have become increasingly popular, and we’re seeing a rush of new brands and models coming onto the market, including some bargain options for less than ?100. However, our tests have uncovered a record number of Don’t Buy cordless vacuums[5] this year. The worst model we’ve tested scored just 30% overall, gaining just one star out of five across all our floor cleaning tests.

It’s not all bad news though.

We’ve found Best Buys from ?190, so use our round-up of the best cordless vacuum cleaners[6] to get a vacuum that will be easy to use and leave your home spotless.